Nail feeding and driving implement



Dec. 1, 1953 J. THORNTON 2,660,727

NAIL FEEDING AND DRIVING IMPLEMENT Filed Dec. 31, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l ec- 1, 1953 J. THORNTON NAIL FEEDING AND DRIVING IMPLEMENT 3 Sheets-8heet 2 Filed Dec. 31, 1949 Dec. 1, 1953 J. THORNTON NAIL FEEDING AND DRIVING IMPLEMENT 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 31, 1949 Patented Dec. 1, 1953 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICE NAIL FEEDING AND DRIVING IMPLEMENT chusetts Application December 31, 1949, Serial No. 136,193

12 Claims.

The present invention relates to nailing implements for machines which are equipped with means for holding a supply of nails, feeding means for delivering nails successively to a point of delivery, and a driver adapted to be actuated by hammer blows applied by the user to eject and drive the nails.

A comprehensive object of the invention has been to provide a tool or implement of this type, which is rugged, efficient and reliable, and practically immune from getting out of order. Related objects are to effect rapid and sure placement of the driver in what may be called its retracted position, i. e., a position in which it is ready to be advanced by hammer blows, when the implement is placed at a location where a nail is to be driven; to utilize the driver for setting nails so that their heads are flush with, or sunken within, the adjoining surfaces of the boards, etc. into which they are driven; to utilize the implement for transmitting force against the edge of a board in which a nail is being, or has just been, driven so as to force the opposite edge of the board against an adjoining board; to cause feeding of nails in correct timing with other functions of the implement; and accomplish other improved functions and results.

The invention consists in the implement or tool described in the following specification, by which the foregoing and other objects are accomplished, and in all equivalents and modifications thereof having the essential characteristics of structure and function set forth in the appended claims.

A nail driving implement embodying the invention, and designed particularly for nailing the boards of a finished floor on a sub-floor is shown in the accompanyin drawings, in which-- Fi 1 is a sectional view of the implement in its first operative position for placing a nail to be driven;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the implement in a second operative position; representthe driver as having been partially advanced from its retracted position and showing also, by dotted lines, the fully advanced position of the driver and the driven and set position of a nail;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4--4 of Figs. 2 and 7;

Fig. 5 a section on the line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6--6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of the central partof the implement as seen from the opposite side from the point of view of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line il8 of Fig. 3; but with the parts in the position of operation shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view takenon line 9-9 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 10 is a section on the line Iii-l 6 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is a detail section taken on line 11-! I of Fig. 8.

Like reference characters designate the same parts wherever they occur in all the figures.

The principal parts of the implement comprise a barrel !2 to which a lateral handle arm l3 having a hand grip I 4 is attached, a sleeve 15 fitted to slide freely in the barrel It, a driver rod it fitted to slide in the sleeve 15, having a driving pin extension [7 at one end and a head I8 at the other end, a raceway IS adapted to contain the heads of nails arranged in a row with their shanks projecting through a slot in the under side of the raceway, and a feeder or escape device actuated semi-automatically in a manner presently described to deliver nails into a nail guiding passage 2! in the lower end of the sleeve l5.

The barrel I2 is provided with a longitudinal slot 22 in one side extending from its outer or upper end to a lug 23 near its lower end. A tubular cap 24 is set into the outer end of the barrel and serves as a guide for the driver rod i6. Parallel webs 25, 25 (Fig. 3) project laterally from the barrel 12 at opposite sides of the slot 22, providing means for attachment of the arm l3.

The handle arm and hand grip are made preferably as a metal stamping, or may be a hcllow casting, with a top wall portion to which the numeral I3 is applied in Figs. 1 and 2, and depending webs 26, 26 Which embrace the webs 25, 25 (Fig. 3) and the lug 23 previously n1entioned, and are made fast detachably by pins 21, 2B.

A block 29 is located between the webs 25 and fastened rigidly to them by pins 2! and Bi. It has a tubular portion 32 in which the inner end of the raceway i 9 is secured and in which a cylindrical nail feeder or escape device 33 is rotatably mounted in line with the raceway. A slot is formed in the under side of the tubular portion 32 in alinement with the slot 253 in the underside of the raceway, and two wings 34, 3d extend downwardly from the tubular portion 32 at opposite sides of the slot therein, forming 3 part of guiding means for nails released from the raceway.

It may be noted that the outer end of the race way I9 projects through an opening in the outer wall of the hand grip it and is adapted to receive detachably a nail magazine or extension raceway 35.

Sleeve 55 serves as a guide for the driver rod i6 and a a placer and guide for the nail to be driven. For these purposes, it is formed with a large bore through the greater part of its length from the upper end, to receive with a free sliding fit the driver rod 15, and with a narrow bore 2! in its opposite end slightlylarger than theheads. of nails which it is designed to. apply, and .in which the extension pin I! fits slidingly; it is formed with a slot in the same plane with the slot in the raceway it'and the passageway between the webs 3 3, to receive nails falling from the feeder and guide them into the restricted bore 2-1; and it is slidable endwise in the bore of the barrel l2, having a. rib 3? which projects into the slot 22 (Figure 3) of the barrel and maintains the sleeve with its slot 36 in the position relative to the raceway slot above mentioned. A notch having an inclined abutment face- 38 is formed in this rib.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, which is designed for the blind nailing of matched floor boards, the arrangement of the parts is such that the barrel is held at an angle of approximately with the horizontal when in position for driving nails and the handle arm and raceway extend at an angle of approximately 90 upwardly from the upper side of the barrel. A shoe 39 is fitted to. the lower end of sleeve i5 having a beveled surface =10 which is adapted to be laid against the edge of a board. in position to be nailed, and a groove ii to receive the projecting tongue or" such a board. It is freely rotatable on the end of the sleeve and is retained thereon with provision for limited rotation by a rivet 42 which traverses a tangential groove 43: of larger radius in the side of the sleeve.

Assuming that in the operation of the device after a nail has been driven, the shoe will be slid along the tongue of the floor board to the point where the next nail will be driven, the body structure which comprises the barrel i'2 and handle arm assembly slides up and down on the sleeve i5 as the sleeve remains in contact with the edge of the floor board. Such up ward movement of the body structure is. limited by engagement of the stop surface 54 (Figure 2) on the lower end of the rib 37. The downwardmovement of the body structure is limited by engagement of the lower end 43' of the barrelagainst a shoulder E5 on the sleeve, as shown in Figure 2.

Latch 41 is coupled with a trigger 28 (Fig. 1) in the handle it by a link 49, a bell crank lever 56, and a lever 5!. Link 49 extends from the latch to connection with one arm of lever 50 at point. 52, and a second arm 53 engages one arm of lever 5i, the other arm of which bears on the trigger 48 which is pivoted to the handle at 54. A spring 55 is connected with a third arm of bell crank 5t and with a short third arm 58 of lever 52, in an arrangement such that it causes lever arm 53 to exert force against lever 5|, and the latter to exert force against trigger 5-8. The spring therefore normally holds the latch 41- in the projected position shown in Fig. 2, and thetrigger 58. in the dotted line position shown in Fig- 1,. whereit i retained by a stop lug 5? bearing 4 on the inner surface of the adjacent wall of haridle it.

When the body structure is moved to its upper position, as in Fig. l, carrying with it the driver rod 26, a ball detent 58 is projected into the bore of the sleeve 15 just below the shoulder 60 of the rod. This ball is pressed inward by a resilient cushion or spring confined between the ball and a screw set in a transverse passage in the rib 37, the inner end of the passage having a rim of smaller diameter to prevent escape of the ball into the bore. When the body structure is sub sequently moved to the lower position shown in Figure 2, the ball 58 serves to retain the driving rod releasably in its upper or retracted position.

The nail feeder or escape device 33 is operated to deliver nails into the contracted bore 25 of sleeve l5 by, and under control of, the body structure in its reciprocating movements through the agency of a spring 6! which is coupled with the sleeve and with the body structure.

The nail feeder 33 bears at its lower end on the hub 62 of a lever 63 which is mounted to turn about the pivot 31 and is located in a narrow space between one of the wings 25 and a portion of the block 29-. The feeder is freely rotatable in the bore of the block extension 312.

It has a deep central recess extending inward from the upper end, the rim of which surrounds the inner end of raceway 193.. In one of its side walls is an angular slot 35 which opens through the rim of the feeder, and is offset laterally in an intermediate portion. The entrance and offset parts of the slot are. wide enough to admit the shanks, but not the heads, of the nails which are used with this implement, and the offsetting is sufficient to form a shoulder for arresting the nails, while the lower terminal portion 85a of the slot is wide enough to permit the heads to pass through.

The feeder is rotated alternately in opposite directions through an angle equal to the angle between the laterally offset portions of the slot, between a position in which the entrance to the slot registers with the slot 20 in the-raceway, and another position in which the terminal portion 65a registers with the passageway between the wings 34, shown in Fig. 4; such passageway being wider than the shanks, but narrower than the heads of the nails. Thispassageway serves to keep the shanks of the lowermost nails in a common vertical plane so that when the lowermost nail is released by the feeder 33, it is properly oriented to fall through the slot 35 and into the guiding passage 2|.

The feeder is rotated in this manner by lever 63 (Figures 7, 9 and 10) which, in turn, is rotated back and forth by a lever 51 to which it is coupled by a link 68- and to which the spring 6! also is coupled. A pin 69 projectsfrom the feeder through a slot inthe side of the bearing extension 32 into a notch 19 in lever 53 whereby oscillations of that lever are transmitted to the feeder. Spring 6| is a bowed spring. engaged at one end in a pivotal manner with a hook 3 7a on sleeve i5 and at its other end in a rigid manner with the lever til,v which. lever is pivoted at. H to the webs 2-5. The spring is put into a sharply bowed position when the body structure. slides down the sleeve l5, and when in that position the spring. holds the levers 6t and 63 in the positions best shown in Fig. 7, and causes. the nail feeder to occupy the. position shown in. Fig. 9 where the entrance. to. slot. 65. is, displaced from the racewayslot and the delivery end 65a of the feeder slot registers with the passage between the wings 34.

In order to afford sufficient scope for the spring 65, so that it will be under stress throughout the full movement of the body structure on the sleeve l5, while keeping its over all dimensions within suitable limits, its intermediate portion is made with several turns of a helical coil fila. The end which is engaged with lever 6'! is confined in a roove in the outer side of the lever into which it is locked by lugs 61a, and its extremity is passed through a hole in the lever. This provides a rigid connection between the spring and the lever and makes pivot H the abutment for the reaction of the spring. As the tendency of the spring is to straighten, it exerts force constantly tending to slide the body structure upward on the sleeve, and when such movement takes place, it swings lever 6'! about pivot l I, to the position shown in Fig. 1, thereby rotating lever 63 and turning the nail feeder to the position in which it can receive a nail from the raceway 19, as shown in Fig. 10. When the body structure moves down again, the Spring and nail feeder are returned to the positions previously described.

Preferably, and as here shown, the spring BI is double (Figure 3), being in effect two springs which are connected by a cross member 661), which extends across hook 31a. The two springs lie at opposite sides of the raceway I9 and lever 61 is forked, having two branches which straddle the raceway and to each of which one of the springs is secured in the manner described. Conveniently, both springs may be made of a single piece of spring wire. The long arm of each spring, which extends from the coil to the hook 31a, is stiffened and held straight through a large part of its length by a metal tube 13 which surrounds it closely.

A narrow funnel 75a having a front wall 14, a back wall 15 and parallel side walls 15, is provided to guide the nails in their free-falling passage from the feeder to the slot 36 in the side of the sliding sleeve I5. The side walls 16 of the funnel embrace the wings 34 and are rigidly secured thereto. There is an opening between the front wall '14 and rear wall 75 which registers with slot 36 when the body structure is in its lower position; the end wall 78 of the slot being then in register with the surface i l and the wall "it of the funnel terminating at the surface 44.

In using the implement herein described, its raceway being loaded with nails, the user grasps it by the handle it and presses the trigger 48 inward, whereby the sleeve I5 is released and allowed to slide out of the barrel [2 by the combined action of gravity and the force of spring iii. During the outward movement of the sleeve, the feeder 33 is turned to the angular position shown in Fig. 10 so that the entrance to its slot Girl is put in register with raceway slot 20, and the lowermost nail in the raceway, which had previously rested against the rim of the feeder 33 in the position 11. shown in Fig. 9, is allowed to enter the feeder slot and rest against the ofiset shoulder therein in the position n shown in Figs. 8 and 10.

The user then places the shoe 39 against the edge of the finish floor board next to be nailed to the under fioor and pushes the body structure down until the end of the barrel brings up against the shoulder of the shoe. During this downward movement by the body structure, the driving rod [6 is maintained by the ball detent 58 in its upper or cooked position, that is, fully retracted with respect to the sleeve l5. At the same time the deformation of the spring 5! resulting from such movement acts through the levers 51 and 68 and the pin 69 to turn the nail feeder 33 to the position shown in Fig. 9 so as to release the nail which previously occupied the position 11. so that the nail falls by gravity through the funnel and the slot 36 into the bore 2|.

The final action is to drive the nail by hitting the end of the driver rod with a hammer. Fig. 2 shows the driver rod in the course of being moved downward and having advanced far enough from the fully retracted position to come in contact with the head of the nail in the guideway 2!. A few hammer blows suihce to drive the nail all the way in. Skilled operators can frequently fully drive a 2 inch nail by a single blow.

The driver rod thus actuated not only drives the nail in to the full length of its shank, but also sets the nail; that is, advances the nail head to a position flush with the surface of the board or even below the surface. The drawing shows how this is accomplished in the case of a nail driven into the angle between the edge and the tongue of a floor board so that the nail head coincides with the apex of the angle, leaving no obstruction to the placement of another board. This effect cannot be accomplished by a hand wielded hammer in direct contact with the nail, without badly marring the board, but requires an additional operation with the aid of a nail set. The cap 2-; limits the advance of the driver and thereby the depth to which i. the nail can be set, in accordance with the length of the driver rod and its extension pin l'i. By making the extension pin with a prescribed length, the depth to which the nail head can be set is exactly determined and regulated.

It will be noted that when the driver rod is fully advanced in the course of driving a nail, its head iS'bears against the cap it, which bears against the outer end of the barrel i2, and the inner end of the barrel bears against the shoe 39. Thereby a rigid force transmitting structure is provided between the head of the driver and the shoe, whereby the final impact of force in driving a nail is applied also through the shoe to the edge of the board, forcing the latter tightly against the next board back of it. This is a feature of substantial advantage in the laying of finished fiooring. Owing to the extended area of the surface of the shce which comes against the edge of the board above the tongue, the board is not harmed by force application.

While I have here illustrated the invention as embodied in a floor nailing implement adapted tc be used in a manner such as to drive nails at an inclination, I wish to make it clear that it is not limited to that specific use or arrangement of parts. It is applicable to other nailing uses as well, upright as well as inclined. The specific shoe here shown can be replaced by other shoes or foot pieces conformable to different specific purposes, and a nail raceway and the feeder can be mounted at other angles than right angles to the path of the driver, or equipped with mechanical means for propelling the nails along the raceway.

In the generic aspects of the invention, the barrel i2 and handle arm constitute the body structure by which all other supported and to which all movable parts, except the sleeve I5 and driver red, are connected. The barrel serves as a guide for the sleeve |i or its equiv-1 alent and may have other forms than cylindri cal. The sleeve may also have other forms: than cylindrical. Various changes and modifications in form, dimensions and proportions of the several parts of the implement maybe madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A nail driving implement comprising a body structure having a straight guide-way; a sleeve fitted for free endwise movement in said guideway whereby said structure is. adapted to be advanced and retracted on said sleeve, a driver rod fitted for free endwise movement. in said sleeve and engageable by said structure. to be retracted tl'ierewith, the sleeve having. a nail guiding passage in its. lower end, and the. driver rod having an extension pin movable through said guiding passage for expelling nails therefrom, the sleeve having a detent element arranged to en age. under a. shoulder on the driver rod when the structure. is retracted and. to. yieldingly maintain the .driver rod in its. re.- tracted position when the. body structure is. sub sequently advanced on the sleeve,

2. A nail driving implement, as. set forth in. claim 1 combined with a. nail holding raceway, a. feeder or escape. device. at the. inner end. of. said. raceway shiitable to. release nails there.- from, the sleeve having an. opening in its. leading to the nail guiding. passage. and the. body structure having guiding means arranged to conduct nails from the. escape. device. to; saidopening, and means controlled. the. body structure in its advancingv and withdrawing movements for actuating said escape device to release nailsv into the sleeve. when. the body structure is advanced on the sleeve.

3. A nail driving implement comprising a body structure having a handle. and a guidevvay, a sleeve slidably fitted in said guldeway for ad.- vancing and retracting movements of said body structure thereon, a latch mounted in the body Structure disposed to. interlock with the. sleeve when the body structure is in itsv advanced position, trigger means associated with the handie portion and latch operablev to release the latch and permit retracting movement. of the body structure, the sleeve having a nail guiding passage in its outer end portion arranged to hold nails in position for being driven,.a driver rod fitted to move endwise in said sleeve and having an extension arranged to pass through the nail guiding passage from a retracted position to drive out nails contained in said passage, and means carried by the sleeve for engaging and yieldingly detaining the driver rod. in a re.- tracted position when said rod has been moved to such position by retraction of the body struc ture on the sleeve.

4. In a nail driving implement having a body structure and an endwise movable driver rod adapted to be impelled by hammer blows so. as to drive nails, means for yieldingly detaining the driver rod in a retracted position, comprising a sleeve member on which said body structure is movable and in which the driver rod. is movable endwise, said. sleeve having a. nail guiding passage to receive nails in position tov be driven and having a detent element engageable with the driver rod and operable to yieldingly detain the driver rod in its retracted position when the body structure is advanced. from. its retracted position.

5. A nail driving implement. comprising. a body structure, a driver rod disposed to move endwise insaid body structure between a position in which its. head end. projects therefrom. and a nail drivingposition, an elongated member on which said body structureis slidable between an advanced position and. another position in which it is retracted toget -er with the driving rod, and a detent element carried by said elongated member and engaging said rod to detain the rod yieldingly inits retracted position when the body structure is advanced.

6; A naildriving implement according to claim 5, in which the elongated member has a nail guiding passage in its forward end which is clear of the driver rod when the latter is in its retractedposition and through which the foot end portion or said rod is movable, combined with a nail ma azine, a nail feeder or escape device at the inner end of the nail magazine, and means controlled by the body structure for actuating the nail feeder to deliver ils said passage when the body structure is in its advanced position and the driver rod in its retracted position.

7. Ina nail driving implement, a sleeve, a shoe connected with the lower extremity of the sleeve, a barrel member slidable on said sleeve from a retracted position to: an advanced position in which its lower end; abuts said shoe, a driving rod longitudinally movable within said sleeve, a cap on the upper end of said barrel member through which said rod extends, and a head driving rod arranged to abut the outer faoeoi said cap-when the rodis fully advanced in course or" driving a nail, head, barrel memberand. shoe forming a ri idstruoture adapted to=tra nsmit the force of hammer blows to anything against which the shoe abuts.

8. In a nail driving: implement, the cembinationof a supporting-structure having a guideway, a nail: raceway mounted the supporting structure extending toward said gu' way, an elongated member movableendwise in said guidewa' a nail feeder mounted inextension the end of the-raceway, rotatable-back forth for pickingoii and releasing nails from the raceway, a lever pivoted on the supporting struct having a pin and slot connection with the nail feeder, a second lever pivoted on the supporting structure inlinked connection with the first named lever, a bowed spring. in rigid extended connection with the second named lever and engaged with said elongated member, thespri-ng and levers-being arranged toturn the nail feeder back andforth in response to relative-movements between said supporting structure and said elongated member.

9. A nail driving implement comprising a sleeve,

a body structure slidable on said sleeve, a driver rod slidable in saidsleeve, a head on said: driver rod engageable by said body structure to retract the rod when the body structure is retracted on the sleeve, and means carried by sa dsleeve yieldingly detaining said rod in its re tractedposition when the body structure is advanced.

H). In a nail driving implement, a sleeve, a body structure slidableon saidv sleeve, said body structure having a guideway to guns nails. into. said sleeve, a nail raceway mounted in said body structure extending toward said. g-uideway, mea is. for feeding nails. one by one from the raceway to the guideway, and; means. including a. member rotatable back. and forth to pick: off. single nails.

from the raceway and to release single nails into the guideway, and means operable by sliding movements of the supporting body on the sleeve to operate said feeding means.

11. A nail driving implement as in claim 10, and spring means pressing said body structure toward its retracted position on said sleeve.

12. A nail driving implement as in claim 10, a nail magazine carried by said body structure, and feeding means operable by reciprocation of said body structure on said sleeve to feed nails one by one from said magazine into said sleeve.

JE'NS THORNTON.

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Junkins May 21, 1889 McCornack Nov. 10, 1891 King Nov. 14, 1893 Martin Aug. 21, 1917 Mackey Feb. 15, 1921 River Sept. 6, 1921 Metcalf Feb. 16, 1932 

